William Mattox: Block grants could help rural areas that welcome education choice

The day after the Florida Senate passed its high-priority “Rural Renaissance” package, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for dismantling the federal Department of Education.

A mere coincidence?  Sure.

However, if federal education monies start flowing to the states as block grants, rural counties that welcome the spread of education choice options could be major beneficiaries.  Here’s why:

Rural communities, along with high-poverty urban neighborhoods, currently receive a disproportionate share of federal Title I monies going to public schools with large low-income populations. That won’t change with the demise of the federal Department of Education.

What could change is state discretion in determining how federal dollars are spent. This means a state like Florida may be able to have its Title I block grant monies “follow the child” to whatever school the family chooses.

Those who enroll their child in a public school would enable their district to receive a monetary boost to supplement state and local education dollars. Those opting for a school choice scholarship would receive a similar boost to their child’s scholarship amount. It’s a win-win.

Why is this important?

One of the biggest obstacles to a “Rural Renaissance” is the absence of education choice options. According to N.C. State University economist Bart Danielsen, many rural hospitals have difficulty attracting doctors because medical professionals often want their children to get educational opportunities not commonly found at rural public schools.

The same can be said for the growing number of “digital nomads” who work remotely and can live anywhere. “Many remote workers would be open to moving to a rural community or small town,” Danielsen says, “so long as they have internet connectivity and their kids have good learning options.”

Thanks to the leadership of Sen. Corey Simon and others, Florida’s rural communities and small towns are currently better positioned than those in other states to attract – and retain – education-minded families. Two years ago, Simon championed Florida’s adoption of universal Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), making it possible for families to take advantage of microschools, learning pods, a la carte courses, and other innovative education offerings that don’t require a large student population.

A year ago, Simon offered an amendment that squashed an attempt to severely restrict parents’ flexibility in using these scholarships. This year, Simon is leading an effort to make it possible for private school athletes to play for other schools if their own school doesn’t have a team (thereby helping to preserve the community-unifying aspects of “Friday Night Lights”).

Still, adding federal Title I dollars to the universal scholarships of all K-12 students living in high-poverty areas would be a game-changer for many rural and urban areas. This “place-based strategy” is just the sort of approach we’ve long needed to lift the economically marginalized.

Indeed, research by Harvard’s Raj Chetty shows that “cross-class relationships” play a significant role in helping children escape concentrated poverty. When communities become more economically diverse, children in low-income households benefit from improved “neighborhood effects.”  They gain greater exposure to families that model habits and patterns that lead to personal and economic uplift.

So, here’s hoping the demise of the federal Department of Education will lead to weighted scholarship opportunities for all K-12 students living in economically disadvantaged areas. Such weighted scholarships will greatly boost the Place-Based Renaissance we all want to see.

___

William Mattox is the senior director of the Marshall Center for Education Freedom at The James Madison Institute.